Access Forms & Reports For Dummies
by Brian Underdahl
Author of iPAQ For Dummies
Access
®
Forms
& Reports
FOR
DUMmIES
‰® ® Access Forms & Reports For Dummies Published by Wiley Publishing, Inc.
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About the Author Brian Underdahl is the well-known, best selling author of over 70 computer
books on a broad range of subjects. He has appeared on a number of TV shows, including the Computer Chronicles, and several TechTV programs, and is the subject of an hour-long interview on the syndicated Computer Outlook radio program. One of his titles was recently recommended to viewers by Scott Gurvey, Bureau Chief, on the Nightly Business Report on PBS, and his books have won awards including an Award of Merit from the Northern California Technical Communications Competition and the Referenceware Excellence Award for best title in the Graphic Design and Multimedia category.
Brian has been involved in personal computers from their beginning and has a background in electrical engineering. His last “real” job was as a Senior Programmer/Analyst for a large company, where he worked hard to bring the power and freedom of PCs to the desktops.
Brian figures that it’s the author who should do the work so that readers can get their money’s worth. That’s why his books are different — he takes the time to explain what’s going on so that readers can understand the subjects easily.
Author’s Acknowledgments
No book is the product of one person, even if one person has the title of author and gets to have his or her name on the cover. I’m very lucky to have a lot of people I can thank for all the hard work and effort they put into this book. They include Terri Varveris, Nicole Haims, and Virginia Andersen.
I’d also like to thank the many people who provided me with the wonderful Access tools and add-ons so that I could give you an idea about how you can get even more from Access. Please do check out the Web sites I list for these great products — you owe it to yourself to see how much more productive you can be.
Finally, many thanks to Fred Holabird of Holabird Americana, www.hola birdamericana.com , for allowing me to use samples from the Holabird Americana databases in order to be able to show some real world examples in this book. Fred is a good friend and I’ll always be grateful for his help!
Publisher’s Acknowledgments
We’re proud of this book; please send us your comments through our online registration form
.Some of the people who helped bring this book to market include the following: Acquisitions, Editorial, and Media Development
Project Editor: Nicole Haims Acquisitions Editor: Terri Varveris Technical Editor: Virginia Andersen Editorial Manager: Carol Sheehan Media Development Manager:
Laura VanWinkle Media Development Supervisor:
Richard Graves Editorial Assistant: Amanda Foxworth Cartoons: Rich Tennant
(www.the5thwave.com) Composition Services
Project Coordinator: Maridee Ennis Layout and Graphics: Claudia Bell, Andrea Dahl, Lauren Goddard, Denny Hager, Joyce Haughey, Stephanie D. Jumper, Barry Offringa, Heather Ryan
Proofreaders: David Faust, Leeann Harney, Carl William Pierce, TECHBOOKS Production Services
Indexer: Sherry Massey Publishing and Editorial for Technology Dummies Richard Swadley, Vice President and Executive Group Publisher Andy Cummings, Vice President and Publisher Mary Bednarek, Executive Acquisitions Director Mary C. Corder, Editorial Director
Publishing for Consumer Dummies Diane Graves Steele, Vice President and Publisher Joyce Pepple, Acquisitions Director
Composition Services Gerry Fahey, Vice President of Production Services Debbie Stailey, Director of Composition Services
Contents at a Glance
Introduction ................................................................1
Part I: Accessing Both Ends: Getting Data In
and Info Out.................................................................7
Chapter 1: Getting to Know Forms and Reports ...........................................................9 Chapter 2: Getting Started with Queries .....................................................................25 Chapter 3: Creating Simple Forms .................................................................................45 Chapter 4: Building Basic Reports ................................................................................67 Part II: Creating Effective Queries ...............................93 Chapter 5: Creating Multi-Table Queries ......................................................................95 Chapter 6: Modifying Data with Queries ...................................................................113 Chapter 7: Expanding Queries with SQL ....................................................................133 Chapter 8: Dealing with Quarrelsome Queries ..........................................................151 Part III: Building Really Useful Forms .......................169 Chapter 9: Building Better Forms by Using Controls ...............................................171 Chapter 10: Using Multiple Tables in Forms .............................................................191 Chapter 11: Fixing Form Faults ....................................................................................205 Part IV: Designing Great Reports ...............................219 Chapter 12: Adding Fancy Touches to Reports ........................................................221 Chapter 13: Creating Reports that Summarize Data .................................................241 Chapter 14: When Reports Go Wrong . . . ...................................................................257 Part V: Way Cool Advanced Queries, Forms, and Reports ...................................................267 Chapter 15: Tricks for Finding Data with Queries ....................................................269 Chapter 16: Tricks for Updating with Queries ..........................................................283 Chapter 17: Killer Ways to Improve Forms ...............................................................295 Chapter 18: Expert Methods for Sharing Reports .....................................................315 Chapter 19: Making Reports Look Better ...................................................................331 Chapter 20: Adding Efficiency with Great Tools ........................................................345
Part VI: The Part of Tens ...........................................363
Chapter 21: Ten Great Access Sites Online ................................................................365 Chapter 22: Ten Things to Know About Queries(That Also Help You with Forms and Reports) .......................................................371
Index .......................................................................375
Table of Contents
Introduction .................................................................1
About This Book ..............................................................................................1 Conventions Used in This Book ....................................................................2 What You Don’t Have to Read .......................................................................2 Icons Used in This Book .................................................................................3 Foolish Assumptions ......................................................................................3 How This Book Is Organized ..........................................................................4
Part I: Accessing Both Ends: Getting Data In and Info Out .............................................................4 Part II: Creating Effective Queries .......................................................4 Part III: Building Really Useful Forms ................................................4 Part IV: Designing Great Reports .........................................................5 Part V: Way Cool Advanced Queries, Forms, and Reports ...............5 Part VI: The Part of Tens ......................................................................5 Part I: Accessing Both Ends: Getting Data In and Info Out .....................................................7 Chapter 1: Getting to Know Forms and Reports . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .9 Finding a Fascination with Forms ...............................................................10 Using forms to streamline data input ...............................................11 Entering data with the Form Wizard .................................................12 Editing information with forms .........................................................14 Viewing data by using forms ..............................................................15 Recognizing Why Reports Rock ..................................................................15 Using reports to show results ............................................................15 Using reports to present data in a professional format .................16 Using reports to show data analysis .................................................17 Using reports to preserve the moment ............................................18 Seeing Why Both Forms and Reports Have a Place ..................................18 Understanding the Value of Queries ...........................................................19 Introducing the query concept ..........................................................20 Using queries to enhance forms and reports ..................................21 Queries, Forms, and Reports Basics You Must Endure ............................21 Access Add-Ons and Extra Cool Tools .......................................................23
Access Forms & Reports For Dummies
Chapter 2: Getting Started with Queries . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .25 Understanding the Types of Queries ..........................................................25 Introducing select queries ..................................................................26 Getting to know crosstab queries .....................................................28 Make-table queries ..............................................................................29 Using update queries ..........................................................................30 Introducing append queries ...............................................................31 Getting to know delete queries ..........................................................32 Creating Queries by Using a Wizard ...........................................................33 Why you should be off to see the wizards .......................................33 Understanding the limitations of the wizards .................................34 Creating your first query with a wizard ............................................34 Creating Queries in Design View .................................................................38 Getting to know the Design view .......................................................38 Creating an example query in Design view ......................................40 Modifying Queries for Better Results .........................................................42 Deleting a query ..................................................................................43 Modifying an existing query ...............................................................43 Rearranging and deleting fields in a query ......................................44 Chapter 3: Creating Simple Forms . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .45 Creating Forms with the Help of a Wizard .................................................45 Meeting (And avoiding) the AutoForm Wizards ..............................46 Making friends with the Form Wizard ...............................................48 Knowing what the wizard can’t do ....................................................51 Building Forms the Hard Way: Using Design View ....................................52 Introducing Design view tools ...........................................................53 Starting a form in Design view ...........................................................55 Associating a table to your form in Design view .............................56 Adding fields to the form ....................................................................58 Modifying Forms You’ve Created ................................................................59 Aligning objects on a form .................................................................60 Setting consistent sizes ......................................................................62 Spacing horizontally and vertically ..................................................63 Shrinking a big form down to size .....................................................64 Chapter 4: Building Basic Reports . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .67 Getting to Know the Types of Access Reports ..........................................67 Introducing simple reports ................................................................68 Using reports that group data ...........................................................69 Using reports to summarize information .........................................69 Creating Reports by Using a Wizard ...........................................................70 Using the Report Wizard ....................................................................70 Understanding what the wizard doesn’t know ................................75
Table of Contents
Designing Reports from Scratch .................................................................75 Understanding the report bands .......................................................76 Setting up the report page .................................................................78 Choosing your tables ..........................................................................82 Selecting the fields ..............................................................................83
Modifying Report Layouts ...........................................................................84 Deciding what needs to be done .......................................................84 Moving and formatting those pesky labels ......................................85 Pulling the layout together to save paper ........................................87
Adding Data from External Linked Tables ..................................................88 Choosing a method for accessing external data .............................89 Importing or linking external data ....................................................90
Part II: Creating Effective Queries ................................93 Chapter 5: Creating Multi-Table Queries . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .95 Understanding Multi-Table Queries ............................................................95 Understanding the benefits of multiple tables ................................96 Establishing relationships between multiple tables .......................97 Adding Multiple Tables to Queries .............................................................98 Selecting multiple tables upfront ......................................................98 Adding the tables you forgot about to your query .......................100 Choosing the fields to use ................................................................101 Making Access use the correct table ..............................................102 Linking to External Databases in Your Queries .......................................103 Understanding the types of external data you can use ................103 Linking to tables in another foreign database format ..................104 Knowing what you can and can’t do with a linked
external database ..........................................................................106 Understanding Relationships in Queries .................................................106
Getting to know how tables are related ..........................................107 Making sure that you choose the right relationships ...................108 Setting up table relationships ..........................................................108
Chapter 6: Modifying Data with Queries . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .113 Understanding What You Can Modify with a Query ...............................113 Knowing what you can modify ........................................................114 Knowing what you can’t modify ......................................................115 Being Called to Action: Data-Modifying Queries .....................................115 Creating New Tables with Queries ............................................................117 Why you would want to create new tables ....................................117 Creating your first table with a make-table query ........................118 Updating Data by Using Queries ...............................................................121 Creating an update query example .................................................121 Understanding the update query results .......................................124
Access Forms & Reports For Dummies
Deleting Data with Queries ........................................................................125 Adding New Data with Queries ..................................................................127
Using an append query .....................................................................127 Combining make-table and append queries ..................................131
Chapter 7: Expanding Queries with SQL . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .133 Getting the Scoop on SQL ..........................................................................133 Understanding the “S” in SQL ..........................................................134 Putting SQL in its place (at the heart
of all Access queries) ....................................................................135 Understanding How SQL Can Help ...........................................................136
Going beyond the automated query functions ..............................136 Creating an indexed table with SQL ................................................137 Modifying a table with SQL ..............................................................138
Viewing the SQL You’ve Already Created and Didn’t Know About .......139 Switching to Design view ..................................................................139 Changing to SQL view .......................................................................140 Seeing the results in Datasheet view ..............................................141 Going back to Design view ...............................................................142
Getting Your Feet Wet with Simple SQL Statements ...............................143 Making Useful SQL Statements ..................................................................145
Updating records with SQL ..............................................................145 Creating and filling tables using SQL ..............................................146 Summarizing values using SQL ........................................................147 Deleting records using SQL ..............................................................147
A Nod to VBA Programmers ......................................................................148
Chapter 8: Dealing with Quarrelsome Queries . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .151 Troubleshooting Queries That Don’t Quite Work ...................................151 Understanding the clues Access gives you ....................................152 Locating the problem ........................................................................152 Using Datasheet view as a troubleshooting tool ...........................155 Troubleshooting Sassy SQL .......................................................................157 Figuring out what went wrong .........................................................157 Trying Design view ............................................................................158 Things to watch out for in SQL queries ..........................................158 Simplifying your SQL to find the problem ......................................159 Avoiding Improper Relationships .............................................................160 Understanding how bad relationships
can mess you up ............................................................................160 Making sure your relationships make sense ..................................162 Correcting relationships that don’t work .......................................162
Junking Joins That Don’t Join ....................................................................163 Understanding why default joins may not work ...........................163 Correcting your joins ........................................................................163
Table of Contents
Steering Around Empty Query Results ....................................................165 Understanding some of the causes of empty query results ........165 Correcting a query that doesn’t return any data ..........................165
Preventing Data Destruction .....................................................................166 Beginning by backing up ..................................................................166 Avoiding destructive query results .................................................166 What to do if your database seems to be kaput ............................167
Part III: Building Really Useful Forms ........................169 Chapter 9: Building Better Forms by Using Controls . . . . . . . . . . . . .171 Getting to Know the Controls ....................................................................171 Common Controls You Can Use ................................................................172 List box controls ................................................................................173 Option button controls .....................................................................174 Check box controls ...........................................................................174 Adding Controls to Your Forms .................................................................174 Adding list boxes to your forms ......................................................176 Adding option groups .......................................................................179 Using check boxes on forms ............................................................181 Adding labels to toggle buttons ......................................................182 Incorporating ActiveX Controls ................................................................183 Modifying the Characteristics of Controls ...............................................186 An example of setting default values ..............................................186 Blocking access to certain controls ................................................188 Improving controls by using tab order ...........................................188 Chapter 10: Using Multiple Tables in Forms . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .191 Understanding Forms and Subforms ........................................................191 Understanding the needs subforms fill ..........................................192 Getting to know the subform place .................................................192 Adding Fields from Multiple Tables to Your Forms ................................193 Verifying relationships and adding fields .......................................194 Adding subforms with the Form Wizard ........................................195 Adding a subform after the fact .......................................................197 Choosing the Best Subform View ..............................................................197 Making the switch from Datasheet view to another
subform view ..................................................................................197 Introducing your subform view options .........................................199
Adding Multiple Subforms .........................................................................201 Navigating Records in Multi-Table Forms ................................................202
Choosing the right navigator bar ....................................................202 Finding records with filters ..............................................................203
Access Forms & Reports For Dummies
Chapter 11: Fixing Form Faults . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .205 Preventing Invalid Data with Input Masks ...............................................205 Setting up an input mask with the wizard ......................................206 Making an input mask from scratch ................................................207 Limiting a User to Specific Values with Validation Rules .......................209 Setting up your own validation rules ..............................................209 Remembering Access validation rules ...........................................211 Quick validation rules you can use .................................................212 Preventing Users from Changing Records ...............................................213 Looking Out for Poorly Formatted Data ...................................................214 Knowing what not to do ...................................................................214 Formatting data on forms .................................................................216 Part IV: Designing Great Reports................................219 Chapter 12: Adding Fancy Touches to Reports . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .221 Adding Descriptive Titles to Your Reports ..............................................221 Getting title basics down ..................................................................222 Modifying existing titles ...................................................................223 Formatting your report titles ...........................................................224 Getting Dynamic with Your Titles .............................................................224 Understanding how to use expressions in your titles ..................225 Using expressions to create dynamic titles ...................................226 Using properties to control your expressions ...............................227 Getting rid of the .mdb document extension .................................228 Coming up with Page Title Ideas ...............................................................228 Adding Dates and Page Numbers ..............................................................230 Choosing the right place for dates and numbers ..........................230 Getting fancy with date displays .....................................................230 Discovering some neat page number tricks ..................................232 Making Records Easier to Read with Alternating Bands of Color .........232 Step 1: Picking colors and translating them to hex ......................233 Step 2: Writing code to apply your color bands ...........................235 Making Records Stand Out .........................................................................237 Chapter 13: Creating Reports that Summarize Data . . . . . . . . . . . . . .241 Discovering How to Group Records .........................................................241 Understanding your record-grouping options ...............................242 Creating your first report grouping .................................................243 Making sure you get the right groups .............................................246 Adding Subtotals and Totals ......................................................................249 Understanding how subtotals and totals work .............................249 Adding totals to groups and reports ...............................................250 Using Some Advanced Summarizing Methods ........................................251 Going beyond simple math ..............................................................252 Converting string values ..................................................................254
Table of Contents
Finding the largest, smallest, and average values .........................255 Trimming off extra spaces ................................................................255 Rounding numbers ............................................................................256
Chapter 14: When Reports Go Wrong . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .257 Troubleshooting Reports ...........................................................................257 Figuring out whether the report is really wrong ...........................258 Figuring out what’s wrong with the report ....................................258 Avoiding Bad Report Layouts ....................................................................260 Considering the purpose of your report ........................................260 Avoiding text box data overflow .....................................................261 Avoiding page overflow ....................................................................262 Formatting data in reports ...............................................................263 Eliminating Unnecessary Labels for Tighter Reports .............................264 Deciding whether you really need all those labels .......................264 Deleting labels ...................................................................................265 Moving labels to headers .................................................................265 Part V: Way Cool Advanced Queries, Forms, and Reports....................................................267 Chapter 15: Tricks for Finding Data with Queries . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .269 Finding Just the Data You Need .................................................................270 Getting to know the operators .........................................................270 Selecting a range of records .............................................................271 Finding data that’s close but not exact ..........................................275 Creating Queries That Ask What to Find ..................................................277 Understanding parameter queries ..................................................277 Building your very own parameter query ......................................278 Excluding Data You Don’t Want .................................................................279 Eliminating duplicates from results ................................................280 Finding duplicates with SQL queries ..............................................280 Modifying join properties to get the results you want .................281 Chapter 16: Tricks for Updating with Queries . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .283 Creating New Fields with a Query .............................................................283 Deciding whether using a query to add fields is worth it ............284 Adding your first field with a query ................................................284 Adding Default Values by Using a Query ..................................................286 Getting to know what you can add .................................................286 Adding default values to your very first field ................................286 Making sure you don’t override real data ......................................287 Performing Calculations .............................................................................288 Determining whether to use a query for your calculations .........288 Writing your first query calculations ..............................................288
Access Forms & Reports For Dummies
Updating Records by Using Data from Another Table ...........................290 Choosing the right type of query for your updates ......................291 Updating data in one table with data from another without any conditions .................................................................291 Making sure the right data is updated ............................................294
Chapter 17: Killer Ways to Improve Forms . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .295 Prequalifying the Data Entered .................................................................295 Creating lookup lists .........................................................................296 Setting default values ........................................................................301 Crafting Forms That Are Easier to Use .....................................................302 Making data appear in a logical order ............................................303 Controlling the order for displaying records .................................303 Adding command buttons for common tasks ...............................304 Creating a switchboard for better usability ...................................309 Creating your own switchboard ......................................................309 Presenting data for information only ..............................................311 Making read-only fields .....................................................................312 Giving users help with text prompts ..............................................312 Chapter 18: Expert Methods for Sharing Reports . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .315 Sharing Report Data with Microsoft Excel ...............................................315 Laying out reports so that they work in Excel ..............................316 Exporting your report data to Excel ...............................................318 Sending Reports to Microsoft Word .........................................................320 Sending report data to Word ............................................................320 Using the Word Mail Merge feature with Access ...........................321 Using OLE Objects in Reports ...................................................................323 Understanding OLE objects .............................................................323 Linking versus embedding ...............................................................323 Adding your first OLE object to your Access database ...............325 Troubleshooting OLE objects so that they actually work ............328 Chapter 19: Making Reports Look Better . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .331 Enhancing the Appearance of Important Information ...........................331 Sorting report data for clarity ..........................................................332 Making data seem to jump out ........................................................334 Printing on Standard Labels ......................................................................337 Keeping Related Data Together .................................................................339 Understanding why Access splits records .....................................340 Tricks you can use to avoid splitting grouped records ................340 Tricks you can use to avoid splitting sorted records ...................341 Adding Your Logo to Reports ....................................................................342
Table of Contents
Chapter 20: Adding Efficiency with Great Tools . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .345 Using Cool Tools to Document Everything ..............................................346 Comparing Access databases with CompareWiz ..........................346 Comparing the data in Access databases
with CompareDataWiz ...................................................................347 Checking out your queries with Query Tree Editor ......................348 Fixing database corruption with AccessFIX ...................................350
Souping Up Your Database .........................................................................351 Optimizing your Access database with SSW
Performance Pro! ...........................................................................351 Enhancing your Access forms with Selector .................................353 Creating better forms with ShrinkerStretcher ...............................353 Creating forms from existing forms with OmniForm ....................354
Using Software to Share Stuff .....................................................................355 Using Snapshot Viewer for Access to send a report to non-Access users ......................................................................355 Linking Access and PowerPoint by using
Take-Off DATAPOINT .....................................................................356 Sending data to QuickBooks with accessBooks Updater .............357 Bringing QuickBooks data to Access with Digital Cows
Deluxe Exporter .............................................................................358 Bringing data from Excel with Excel Import Assistant .................359 Merging data with Word by using Word Link for Access ..............361
Part VI: The Part of Tens............................................363 Chapter 21: Ten Great Access Sites Online . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .365 Access Database Tips .................................................................................366 Access Monster ...........................................................................................366 Easy Access Database Directory ...............................................................366 Jamie’s Software ..........................................................................................367 Lebans.com ..................................................................................................367 Microsoft Access Database Solutions ......................................................367 Microsoft Office Online Access .................................................................368 MSDN — Microsoft Developer Network ...................................................368 MSDN Access code samples ............................................................369 MSDN Access site ..............................................................................369 Office Solutions Development .........................................................369 Roger’s Access Library ...............................................................................369 The Access Web ..........................................................................................370
Access Forms & Reports For Dummies
Chapter 22: Ten Things to Know About Queries (That Also Help You with Forms and Reports) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .371 Queries Act Like Tables ..............................................................................371 Select Queries Are Always Safe .................................................................372 All Queries Are SQL Queries ......................................................................372 Action Queries Can Harm Your Data ........................................................372 You Need Joins to Use Multiple Tables in Queries .................................372 Queries Select All Records Unless You Specify Criteria .........................373 Datasheet View Shows Results
without Running the Query ....................................................................373 Make-Table Queries Always Begin with an Empty Table .......................373 Queries Need a Record Source ..................................................................373 Delete Queries Are Forever ........................................................................374
Index........................................................................375
Introduction
icrosoft Access can be an incredibly useful application, but it can also be very frustrating if you don’t know how to make it do what you want
M
it to do. In a perfect world, you’d have a guru around, 24/7 — someone who knows Access inside and out and is willing to guide you along the way, show- ing you handy little tricks and useful techniques that help you to get the results you need.
Well, I may not be there with you, but this book is the next best thing. I’ve gathered the really useful pieces of information that you need to create pow- erful queries, very easy-to-use forms, and reports that actually tell the story of what is going on inside your data. Along the way, I make sure to show you the special tricks and techniques that I use.
About This Book Access Forms & Reports For Dummies is a hands-on guide that uses real-world
examples to show you just what you need to know about Access and why you need to know it. You won’t find a bunch of buzzwords and jargon. Rather, you do find the solid information you really need and can’t find elsewhere about creating queries, forms, and reports. Yes, I do give you good, solid informa- tion about queries in addition to forms and reports because queries are an essential element that will help you create better forms and reports.
Access Forms & Reports For Dummies is also a reference that you can use as